Home Security

Especially during holiday breaks, the State College Police Department would like to remind students and all other residents to following sound safety practices to help reduce property loss and/or damage while away.

To reduce your chances of being a victim of a burglary or theft, below are safety tips that you should consider following:

SECURE YOUR RESIDENCE: Lock all of your doors and windows. Consider placing a bar or piece of wood on the track of a sliding glass door to assist with securing the door. Be sure to close all of the curtains and blinds in your apt. or residence.

SECURE VALUABLE ITEMS: Take valuable items and small electronics with you if possible. If items must be left behind, do not leave them in plain view near windows or doors and place them where they are not easily accessible. Please record serial numbers and note if the item is able to be tracked using a GPS locator (activate GPS applications).

SECURE YOUR VEHICLE(S): Remember to lock car doors, park in a well lit area or a secure facility and remove all valuables from vehicles, especially those in plain view (GPS units, small electronics such as IPods, MP3 players and currency including change).

HOLD MAIL AND NEWSPAPERS: Have your mail held and postpone newspaper delivery. Don’t make it obvious to others that you are away.

HAVE A TRUSTED FRIEND/NEIGHBOR CHECK YOUR RESIDENCE: If your neighbor/friend is staying in the area while you’re away, arrange to have them watch over the apartment/residence from time to time and provide them with a contact number for you in the event of a problem.

ENSURE SUFFICIENT LIGHTING: Make sure you have sufficient lighting around all of your doors, especially those not visible from the street. Buy a motion-sensitive light or a timer that automatically turns on exterior lights.

Additionally, the State College Police Department requests the public to be vigilant and to report any and all suspicious activity to the police immediately. Some suspicious behavior or activity may include, but is not limited to the following:

Unknown persons knocking on doors of houses or apartments for no apparent reason or knocking on doors of multiple houses or apartments;

Occupied vehicles parked in alleyways or along the street for an extended period of time;

Vehicles driving down a street or through a neighborhood slowly or driving down a street or through a neighborhood several times; or

Persons inexplicably loitering in a residential area.

If you would like more information on personal safety, please contact the State College Police Department's Community Relations Crime Prevention Section at (814) 234-7150.

Home Security During the Holidays

Holidays are a special time when families and friends come together to celebrate the season. It is also the time of year where families and friends are most generous and practice the tradition of gift giving. It should be a joyous and happy time for all of us.

Unfortunately for us, home burglars view the holiday season a little differently. For them, it is a time of opportunity to burglarize your home for cash, credit cards, and all the new gifts of small electronics, computers, jewelry, and easily sold valuables.

Here are a few tips of what they look for when shopping for a house to burglarize. These tips will help you enjoy the holidays without incident.

Burglars look for an easy entry with good escape routes. Don’t openly display your Christmas tree and gifts in the front window so it’s easily visible from the street. It’s too tempting for them to smash the window and grab the wrapped packages.

Burglars look for occupancy cues like outdoor lights burning 24 hours a day, piled up newspapers, or advertising flyers hanging on the door knob. Use an inexpensive light timer when you are away and ask a neighbor to keep the front of your home clean of papers and debris.

Burglars know to look for the hidden door key near the front entrance. Don’t hide spare keys under rocks, in flowerpots, or above door ledges. Instead give the spare key to a trusted neighbor.

Burglars prefer to enter through unlocked doors or windows. Sliding windows that are not secure can be seen from distance. One holiday problem can occur when exterior Christmas light extension cords are run inside through a window and prevent it from being secured. Hire an electrician or handyman to install an inexpensive exterior outlet for your holiday lights.

Don’t post your family name on your mailbox or on you house. A burglar can call directory assistance to get your telephone number and call your home while in front of your house to confirm that you are away.

Don’t leave descriptive telephone answering machine messages like, “You’ve reached the Wilson’s…we’re away skiing for the Christmas holidays…please leave a message.” Burglars love to hear that they have plenty of time to break in and completely ransack your home.

After Christmas day, don’t pile up empty gift boxes from your new computer, DVD player, or stereo receiver on the street for the garbage man. Burglars appreciate knowing that you have expensive gifts inside for them to steal. Break them down or cut them up to conceal the items better. After a lucrative burglary, the chances of being burglarized again are increased to steal the new replacement products.

Last, but not least, fortify your home by installing solid core doors, heavy duty locks, longer screws in the lock strike plates and door hinges, and install secondary security devices on all accessible sliding windows. See my webpage on burglary prevention at home security.